Betty Robinson

This article is about the Olympic athlete. For the 1928 national spelling bee champion, go to Scripps National Spelling Bee#Champions and winning words.

Betty Robinson

Betty Robinson in 1931
Personal information
Born	August 23, 1911 Riverdale, Illinois, United States
Died	May 18, 1999 (aged 87) Denver, Colorado, United States
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Club	ICCW, Chicago
Medal record Women's athletics Representing the United States Olympic Games 1928 Amsterdam 100 m 1936 Berlin 4×100 m relay 1928 Amsterdam 4×100 m relay

Elizabeth ("Betty") Robinson (August 23, 1911 – May 18, 1999), later Elizabeth R. Schwartz was an American athlete and winner of the first Olympic 100 m for women.

Born in Riverdale, Illinois, Robinson ran her first 100-meter race on March 30, 1928, at the age of 16. She finished second only to the American record holder. At her next race, she equalled the world record, though her time was not recognized.

At the Amsterdam Olympics, her fourth 100 m competition, Robinson reached the final and won, equalling the world record. She was the inaugural Olympic champion in the event, since athletics for women had not been on the program before, and its inclusion was in fact still heavily disputed among officials. With the American 4×100 meters relay team, Robinson added a silver medal to her record.

In 1931, Robinson was involved in a plane crash, and was severely injured. A man who discovered her in a coma in the wreckage wrongly thought she was dead, put her in his trunk and drove her to an undertaker, where his mistake was discovered. She awoke from the coma seven months later, although it was another six months before she could get out of a wheelchair, and two years before she could walk normally again. Meanwhile, she missed the 1932 Summer Olympics in her home country.

Still unable to kneel for a normal 100 m start, Robinson was a part of the US relay team at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The US team was running behind the heavily favored Germans, but the Germans dropped the baton, allowing Robinson (who handed off the baton to Helen Stephens) to win her second Olympic gold medal.

Retiring after the Berlin Olympics, Betty Robinson remained involved in athletics as an official. Betty R. Schwartz died aged 87, suffering from cancer and Alzheimer's disease in Denver, Colorado.

Further reading

Gergen, Joe. (2014) First Lady of Olympic Track: The Life and Times of Betty Robinson. Northwestern University Press.
Montillo, Roseanne. Phenomenon: Betty Robinson and the Victory of the First Olympic Women. Crown.

Records
Preceded by Kinue Hitomi	Women's 100 m world record holder June 2, 1928 – June 5, 1932	Succeeded by Tollien Schuurman